Stop Whining About Curtis Axel

Years after hearing complaints about not pushing Curtis Axel the WWE has repackaged Joe Hennig with the biggest push of his career. Yet for some fans and critics that isn’t enough and to those people it’s time to stop whining and look at the big picture.

Sometimes you just can’t please everybody. It happens all of the time with a select number of WWE fans. There is always an outcry when critics and fans feel that someone is being underutilized in the WWE. It has happened with Dolph Ziggler, CM Punk, Christian, Jack Swagger, Daniel Bryan, and others in recent years yet the irony is that when they do get their push, it still isn’t good enough. Sometimes the critics are right but in the case of Curtis Axel, nobody should be complaining.

Joe Hennig is a rare third-generation professional wrestler coming from the great Hennig family. Following in the traditions of father Curt and grandpop Larry, Joe entered the squared circle at a young age. After training with his grandfather’s tag team partner Harley Race, Joe was noticed by the WWE and signed almost immediately. Needless to say Joe skipped quite a few steps on his way to the biggest company in professional wrestling.

Joe entered the WWE in 2007 and quickly garnered a reputation for himself in Florida as a young lion to watch. There was an immediate buzz when word got out that he was getting a shot at the big leagues. Joe was called up in 2010 to NXT. Unfortunately the party ended almost immediately when news broke that Joe Hennig was no more and WWE fans would be treated to Michael McGuillicutty.

Everyone from casual fans to hardcore fans knew immediately that he was destined to fail with that name. Is owning a name worth more to you than building a young prodigy off of one of the most familiar names in company history? Apparently it was to Vince McMahon who sacrificed the Hennig name for a trademark.

Fans and even some of Hennig’s colleagues publicly complained about McGuillicutty’s inability to catch a break. Finally after five-plus years of languishing on the main roster, Hennig got the biggest break anyone in his position could ask for. He was repackaged with a new name (not that much better), the top manager in the WWE, and a spot many covet at the top of the cards and guess what.

People are still complaining!

Fans are upset that Axel isn’t really going over Triple H and John Cena and only getting fluke wins. Think about that one for a second. Fans are upset that a guy who has been doing very little since entering the main roster is not getting real wins over Cena and Triple H. How can anyone in their right minds who pulled for this guy now be upset about his role? This kid has been given the golden ticket and anyone who misses that isn’t seeing the big picture.

Axel is in position to become the next big star. Sure he has a lot of work to do but as far as positioning goes, it doesn’t get much better than where he is. Building a heel off of the idea that he remains undefeated by fluke wins over the biggest stars in the company is automatic heat! How many clean matches did Ric Flair win as NWA champion? It’s a better spot than his own father ever got in the WWE! This has all of the makings of a super hot heel.

The sky is the limit. Hennig could ride this angle through the summer and become John Cena’s next WWE championship challenger. Will he go over and win the title? Who knows but don’t tell me that it’s not possible. It almost seems so impossible that it’s possible by WWE logic.

It’s a long road but it could be done. Look at his own father who was a WWWF preliminary wrestler before leaving and returning to a successful run. His father was also one of the most gifted performers in WWE history. How far this angle goes is up to Hennig because the story is there, now he’s got to make people believe they are seeing a superstar and not Michael McGuillicutty.

So let’s see where this goes before everyone starts complaining. We could have a long way to go.

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Eric is the owner and editor-in-chief of the Camel Clutch Blog. Eric has worked in the pro wrestling industry since 1995 as a ring announcer in ECW and a commentator/host on television, PPV, and home video. Eric also hosted Pro Wrestling Radio on terrestrial radio from 1998-2009. Check out some of Eric’s work on his IMDB bio and Wikipedia. Eric has an MBA from Temple University’s Fox School of Business.

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